Car wash systems employ several different types of devices or systems to clean the different parts of a vehicle. For example, different types of brushes are employed to deal with the different parts of a vehicle that require cleaning. For example, some types of brushes are suitable for cleaning the side panels of vehicles; other types of brushes are suitable for cleaning upward facing surfaces such as the roof and bonnet of a vehicle.
One particular area that has required specific attention is the cleaning of vehicle wheels including the tires and rims. Wheel cleaning devices of varying forms have been employed in the past in automated vehicle wash plants to clean vehicle wheels. For example, it is known to provide a tire cleaning system that includes a rotating brush mounted on a support frame that may be configured in a general parallelogram shape. The brush may be moved outwards against the tires on one side of a vehicle and pressure exerted by the brush against the wheels.
It is also known in cleaning vehicle wheels to mount a generally cylindrical shaped brush upon a shaft. The brush may be rotated along a rotational axis that is substantially parallel to the floor of the vehicle wash plant, and generally parallel to the side of the vehicle, or the direction of travel of the vehicle if employed in a conveyor type wash facility. Usually, the bristle length is constant progressively in a longitudinal direction along the brush axis of rotation.
Alternatively, the bristle length of the brush may progressively vary, longitudinally along the brush axis of rotation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,140 discloses a brush having alternatively cylindrical bands comprised of longer and shorter bristles.
Other known wheel cleaning systems have been used with “rollover” (in bay) type vehicle wash systems where a vehicle is maintained in a stationary position during at least some cleaning operations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,037 discloses a brush having bristles arranged parallel to the axis of rotation in a frusto conical configuration. The brush may be brought into contact with a vehicle wheel when a vehicle wheel is in a condition appropriate for cleaning.
Optimally cleaning a wide variety of vehicle wheels requires an aggressive approach that has proven challenging employing currently available wheel cleaning systems. One particular disadvantage that flows from the cylindrical envelope of the wheel cleaning brushes employed by current wheel cleaning systems, is that a relatively constant pressure is applied to a vehicle rim and tire as the brush is rotated. Applying a relatively constant pressure to a vehicle wheel does not provide optimum cleaning of the vehicle wheel, in part as a result of the small irregular surfaces and variable distance of these surfaces from the axis of rotation of the cylindrical brush. For example, a vehicle wheel having a rim comprised of spokes has many small irregular surfaces of varying distances from the axis of rotation. Additionally, rims used on some current vehicle wheels may have a concave shape, extending inwardly away from the tire sidewall. Thus, in cleaning even one type of wheel, there may be a great variety in the depth of penetration that is required for the brush to be able to adequately clean all surfaces. It may be difficult to clean both the sidewall and rim adequately with conventional wheel cleaning systems due to the variable distances of the surfaces from the axis of rotation.
Another shortcoming with current brush cleaning systems used to clean vehicle wheels is that the entire brush must be replaced, even if only a small segment becomes degraded or damaged, because such brushes are contiguous. Additionally, when conventional brushes made with bristles wear out in a particular area, the entire brush must be replaced. Therefore, an improved wheel cleaning system is desired that has a durable and effective brush assembly that may more effectively clean the rim and tire of a vehicle wheel.